


Grand Pas D'Action

by Wrench_Wench



Series: Fics from Wrench_Wench's Tumblr [8]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Ballet, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 19:46:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16878063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wrench_Wench/pseuds/Wrench_Wench
Summary: In order to get out of taking P.E. class, Artemis signs up for ballet at Gotham Academy.  There, she makes friends with a weird freshman.Originally posted on tumblr in 2012, I'm now posting it on AO3 in case tumblr goes down in flames.





	1. Entreé

**_Entreé_ **

 

**_\---_ **

 

In Artemis’ experience, school locker rooms typically smelled like sweat, metal, and a dozen different deodorants combined together. It would figure that even in this, Gotham Academy had to challenge her expectations. The room Artemis was currently changing in smelled like chalk, floor wax, and a dozen different deodorants combined together. At least one thing hadn’t changed. The blond archer supposed that the difference made sense; this locker room was reserved for Gotham Academy’s dance and theater students, so it wasn’t subject to the most of the typical exercise smells.

After one last tug on her leotard, Artemis stowed the rest of her belongings and made her way into the adjoining studio. While she had studied some dance before, as part of her training, she had never done so in such nice accommodations. Gotham Academy’s dance studio was larger than Artemis’ entire apartment, with polished wall-to-wall hardwood, three large windows along one wall, and another wall entirely covered by mirrors. A dozen other girls were scattered around the room, half-heartedly stretching.

While she began her own warm-up routine, Artemis found herself wondering how many of these other girls were just taking this class to avoid taking Gym. Certainly they wouldn’t have as interesting a reason for doing so as Artemis did. It was one of the quirks of the private school that Artemis was absurdly grateful for; students who took a fine arts class could be excused from PE, so long as they played a sport. Students who took dance were excused from even that last caveat. The moment that Artemis learned of the exemption, she signed up for ballet. For the first time in years, she wouldn’t be forced to deliberately flunk PE in order to avoid suspicions.

The door creaked open behind her. Expecting the instructor’s arrival, Artemis unconsciously moved to stand at attention. Instead of their kindly middle aged teacher, the strange freshman Artemis had met in the courtyard stood in the doorway. He was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, and clearly felt awkward about being the only male in the room. The moment he spotted Artemis however, his face lit up. He cheerily made his way over to the barre she was using to stretch her legs, and began to follow her lead.

“Hello again, scholarship student.”

“Hi, strange freshman with the camera.” Artemis wasn’t sure how exactly to respond to the friendly younger boy, so she defaulted to cautious sarcasm. “So did you somehow know we’d be sharing classes?”

The boy snickered, his blue eyes alight with mischief. “Something like that. Are you any good at ballet?”

Artemis tossed her ponytail haughtily and glared down at the shorter student, “Would I be in the advanced class if I wasn’t?”

The freshman covertly gestured to some of the other students, who were lounging around instead of warming up. “At this school? It’s a distinct possibility. I’m Dick, by the way.”

The blonde archer smiled, “I’m Artemis.”

The ballet instructor finally made her appearance, and further conversation was cut off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #I WATCHED A LOT OF BALLET DOCUMENTARIES BEFORE WRITING THIS #AND THEY TAUGHT ME NEXT TO NOTHING #THANK GOD FOR WIKIPEDIA


	2. Pas de Deux

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin reflects on how sharing ballet classes has impacted the way he and Artemis behave in combat. (Takes place during "Homefront")

**_Pas de Deux_ **

 

**_\---_ **

 

The arrows and birdarangs took matching trajectories towards Red Tornado. Even when the android blew the projectiles away, Artemis and Robin were in lockstep. The two heroes flipped backwards and landed simultaneously. As soon as they had their feet under them, they scrambled to get out of the android’s range, but were still blown away by an artificial gust of wind.

The small part of Robin’s brain that wasn’t focused on the mission at hand couldn’t help but be amazed at how well he worked with the blonde archer. Out of all of the official members of the team, he’d known her the shortest amount of time, and he already operated as smoothly with her as he did with Wally. They didn’t even need to utilize M'Gann’s mind link to team up effectively during a fight.

Robin credited daily ballet practice for their ability to read each other’s movements. Madame Seville almost always partnered him with Artemis, and he had to be hyperaware of her every move when they were dancing. This had carried over to their extracurricular activities, though Robin doubted Artemis consciously noticed it.

Without so much as glancing in the archer’s direction, Robin prepared an explosive volley, knowing that his teammate would be doing the same thing.


	3. The Red Shoes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Artemis discovers some of the downsides to ballet. Luckily, Robin’s got her back. Takes place after “Failsafe”.
> 
> Trigger warning for descriptions of injuries. Nothing too graphic, but I just want y'all to have a heads up if that sort of thing makes you queasy.

**_The Red Shoes_ **

 

\---

 

The infirmary at Mount Justice was better equipped than most hospitals. It was filled with the most advanced medical technology available, some of it extraterrestrial in origin. Batman had ensured that there were proper accommodations for all sorts of non-human patients, which had come in handy more than once already. Wally had once joked that if one of them ever lost a limb, all they’d have to do was get to the infirmary, and the limb would be intimidated into re-attaching itself.

Yet, somehow, it was impossible for Artemis to find basic first aid supplies in there.

The blonde archer had been hobbling around the medical center looking for athletic tape for the last ten minutes. Her feet were a ruin of bruises, blisters, and bleeding calluses, with several nails threatening to fall off and at least one broken toe. Artemis had been treating the injuries on her own, fearful that if anyone else knew about them she’d be pulled from the team, but recently she had run out of several critical first-aid supplies.

“I don’t remember ballet being this brutal,” the teen muttered as she slammed another cabinet filled with unrecognizable substances closed. She had taken ballet before mom had gone to prison, as a supplement to her martial arts conditioning. Dad had hoped it would improve her agility, but she never lived up to his expectations. Jade had always been the graceful one.

During her previous dance training, Artemis had been too young to learn point work, and now she understood the wisdom of such restrictions. Dancing  _en pointe_  was absolutely torturous; the tips of the human toe were not designed for that type of abuse, regardless of specially designed shoes. Artemis was certain that there was some sort of physics explanation for why it was so painful, but if she started thinking about that then she’d start thinking about Wally and the weird looks he’d been giving her since The Exercise, and the archer didn’t need to add a headache to all of her other problems right now.

Artemis carefully pulled herself up to kneel on one of the counters so she could have better access to the top cabinets. Her sore muscles protested every movement, but at least it wasn’t the searing pain that came from putting too much weight on her left foot. “This had better be worth it.”

She’d been repeating that to herself a lot recently, though she wasn’t sure what precisely she was referring to anymore. It might have been climbing the counter, because if she didn’t find the first aid bandages soon, Artemis would scream. It might have been dealing with the team, because her patience had been running thin lately. The near constant pain in her feet was impacting her performance in the field, but luckily no one else seemed to notice. The perfectionism Artemis’ father had drilled into her didn’t allow for her to have the luxury of such ignorance.

Mostly, the archer wondered if ballet was worth it. Sure, it helped protect her identity and it made her mother happy, but nights like this made Artemis seriously consider dropping the class. Madame Seville would be upset to lose one of her top students, and Dick would doubtless try to guilt her out of it with his damnable puppy eyes, but a guaranteed “A” did not make up for this pain. Besides, she and Dick could still be friends outside of class.

The top cabinet was filled with vials of oddly glowing liquid. Artemis stared at them for a moment in irritation before slamming the door on them. Her cry of frustration changed to a scream of pain when she accidentally bumped her left foot into the counter.

“Artemis? Are you okay?”

Artemis whirled around to face the intruder so quickly that she lost her precarious balance on the countertop, and dropped to the floor. Normally she would have been able to land with some approximation of grace, but the pain that shot up from her battered feet caused the young vigilante to stagger. Luckily, a pair of gauntlet clad hands was there to steady her.

“What are you doing here, Robin?”

“I heard you yell, so I came to see what was going on.” The boy wonder was wearing his uniform, but even his domino mask couldn’t hide his obvious concern. “What’s the matter?”

Artemis shrugged off Robin’s supportive hold and began limping to the next cabinet. “Oh nothing, I’m just dandy,” she grit out.

She could tell when the other teen caught sight of her feet by the sudden catch in his breathing. “What happened to your feet? Did you drop a bowling ball on them? Repeatedly?”

The archer’s answering smile quickly turned into a pained grimace. “I’m pretty sure that would have hurt less. This,” she gestured to her toes, “is courtesy of my school’s dance teacher.”

It was hard to tell with his mask in place, but Artemis was pretty sure that Robin was quirking at least one of his eyebrows. “I thought that schools weren’t allowed to use corporal punishment anymore.”

Artemis laughed at that, in spite of finding yet another cache of unrecognizable medical supplies. “They are when it’s labelled as ‘ballet’. Seriously though, what’s the point of having an infirmary if we don’t have any supplies that we can actually use?”

“Why don’t you take a seat on one of the tables, and I’ll find what you need? I think I know where Bats had them store the basic stuff.” The younger boy courteously helped Artemis hobble over to an examination table without any of the sarcastic comments she might have expected.

In seemingly no time at all, Robin returned with an armful of bandages and antiseptic cremes. When he inspected Artemis’ feet, he winced in sympathy. The archer knew that they didn’t make a pretty sight. Though she kept her nails closely trimmed, at least four of them were broken. There was a large blood-blister visible beneath the remains of the nail on her right big toe, and a cracked callus adorned the side of her left big toe. Three blisters were visible on both feet, placed where her pointe shoes had rubbed her raw. The worst, though, was Artemis’ smallest toe on her left foot; a livid bruise spread from where the tiny digit met the rest of her foot, the purple so dark that it appeared black in places.

“You got this from  _dancing_?”

“Yeah. Apparently balancing all of your body weight on the tips of your toes isn’t good for them. Who knew?”

Artemis would have continued snarking at her teammate, except Robin was examining her left foot. When he carefully prodded at her little toe, it was all Artemis could do to contain her yelp of pain. Even so, Robin stopped his inspection immediately and straightened his stance.

“I’m pretty sure that’s broken, but you should get it x-rayed.”

“No duh, it’s broken. What’s the point of getting it x-rayed though? I mean, with a broken toe, all you can do is splint it to the one next to it and wait for it to heal. It’s not like you can set it or anything.”

Robin fidgeted absently with his left gauntlet. “We’d want to make sure that the bone didn’t rupture a blood vessel down there.” At Artemis’ blank look, the boy wonder continued. “Batman and I had this case a while back. The perp struggled with his victim before he killed him, but the victim managed to break one of the bones in his feet in the process. It ruptured a blood vessel in his foot, and the perp ended up dying from an aneurysm by the time we tracked him down.”

Artemis promptly slid from the examination table and looped an arm around Robin’s shoulder for added support. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

Given the state-of-the-art equipment, it took barely five minutes to x-ray Artemis’ foot. Once she’d hobbled back to the examination table, Robin pulled up the x-ray pictures on his wrist computer. The blonde archer peered over the younger hero’s shoulder as he deftly zoomed in on various parts of the image.

“So how will you know if I ruptured a blood vessel?”

“Guesswork.”

At Artemis’ glare, Robin grinned sheepishly. “Also, I’ve got software that will compare your x-ray to other ones on file. It’ll let me know if there’s something really wrong.”

When the projected screen revealed no new problems, Robin switched it off. Without prompting, he began to deftly tend to Artemis’ battered feet. The archer considered protesting; she was perfectly capable of doing this herself, and had been doing just that for weeks now. The younger teen’s careful ministrations halted her objections. The last person to tend the Artemis’ wounds so gently had been Jade; even Artemis herself wouldn’t have taken such care. When the boy finished, Artemis smiled gratefully at him, but was halted in her thanks when he held up a finger and dashed out of sight.

When Robin returned, he handed Artemis half a dozen grey capsules, each no larger than a vitamin pill. “Break one of those in half and put it in the toe of your shoes when you put them on. It’ll create a foam that’ll stabilize your broken toe. That way it’ll heal faster and hurt less.”

“Where did you get these?”

“Where else? Batman. You didn’t think he’d let a little thing like a broken bone get in the way of dealing out justice, did you?”

Artemis was struck by the image of Batman hobbling after the Joker while wearing a large plaster cast around his foot, and burst out laughing. Robin quickly joined in.

When they sobered up, the red-clad vigilante helped Artemis off of the exam table. “Artemis, make sure you use those in your toe shoes even after your foot heals. It should help protect and support your feet.”

The archer nodded in agreement. As they reached the infirmary doors and split up, Artemis was tempted to ask Robin not to tell anyone about her injuries, or the cause of them. She wasn’t sure which would be more embarrassing; being put on medical leave from the team, or having Wally tease her about doing ballet. But when Robin gave her a parting smile, she somehow knew that such a request was unnecessary.

 


	4. The Firebird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick faces one of the downsides of being the only boy taking ballet. Luckily, his classmate Artemis has his back.
> 
> Trigger Warning: Bullying, sexist slurs

**_The Firebird_ **

 

\---

 

Mike Delaney was two years older than Dick, and at least fifty pounds heavier. His two friends from the hockey team were probably bigger. The Boy Wonder knew that he could take all three teenagers down in under three minutes if he were facing them down during a patrol. Unfortunately, he was at school, and there was no way Dick Grayson could fight three upperclassmen by himself.

The pain of being slammed into the lockers was jarring, but not nearly as much as the taunts the older boys were slinging. This wasn’t the first time these boys had bothered him, but this level of viciousness was new. “I didn’t think a circus freak like you could slink any lower than the mathletes.”

“If you really wanted to be back in tights so badly, you could have joined the girl’s gymnastics team. At least that’s supposed to be a sport.” With every sentence, the boys loomed closer, cutting off Dick’s escape routes.

“What do you expect from a shit like Grayson?”

“I wonder what he did to get noticed by Wayne? I bet they do all sorts of kinky shit up in his mansion.”

The attack on his mentor, more than any of the slurs flung at himself, nearly caused Dick to lose his cool. He was readying an uppercut to Delaney’s nose when a husky feminine voice cut through the bullies’ taunts.

“You three are stupider than I thought. Is being brain dead a pre-requisite for playing sports at this school?” Dick’s knight in a pleated mini-skirt look almost bored by the scene before her. Only the familiar furious glint in her grey eyes gave away Artemis’ true mood.

“Stay out of this, gutter rat.” The jock closest to the interloper made a threatening move in her direction.

Unmoved, the girl tossed her long blonde ponytail. “Trying to use my background as an insult. How original.” She rolled her eyes before continuing, “You boys might want to consider a few things before you continue harassing my friend over there.”

Delaney sneered, “What? Are you planning on beating us up if we don’t lay off of your nancy ass little girlfriend, bitch?”

Dick recognized the downright dangerous look on his rescuer’s face. “You boys seem awfully concerned with our sexuality. Which, by the way, is none of your business. Given your pre-occupation though, you might want to keep in mind that between you all, Grayson is the one who’s chosen to surround himself with scantily-clad girls everyday. You three, on the other hand, spend an  _awful_ lot of time in a locker room filled with naked men.”

Delaney’s lackeys were thunderstruck, but the ringleader was infuriated. He abandoned his place in front of Dick to threaten Artemis more directly. She stopped him in his tracks with her next statement.

“There’s one more thing. We’ve been nice until now, but if you try anything else, we can and will wreck you.” Dick’s heart nearly stopped for a moment – _was she going to tell them? How did she know about him?_ \- but he shook it off. “Dick’s strong enough to lift me over his head repeatedly, what do you think he can do to  _you_?”

Artemis casually reached into her blazer pocket, her smile as sharp as a razor. “And you’re right about one thing: I am a gutter rat. Do you want to find out what people from Park Row do to rich, puffed up daddy’s boys like you lot?” Her hand seemed to close around something, and the three upperclassmen began to back away, suddenly nervous. “I could show you, or you could just ask Mr. Wayne.”

The older boys ran.

Once the bullies had rounded the hallway corner, Artemis calmly withdrew a candy bar from her pocket. Dick took one look at her, and promptly burst out laughing. Nonplussed by her dance partner’s reaction, the girl took a bite of chocolate. “You’re welcome, Grayson.”

When he’d recovered himself enough to speak, Dick tossed his arm around the taller girl and grinned. “Thanks, Crock. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t shown up.”

 


	5. Sheherazade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Artemis is running late to a team meeting, and faces questions about her whereabouts. Set after “Insecurity”.

**_Sheherazade_ **

 

\---

 

The freezing cold air stung even Artemis’ lungs as she dashed to the Zeta tube. A quick glance at her watch only confirmed what the teen already knew: she was ridiculously late for the team meeting at Mount Justice. Given how terribly her most recent mission had gone, and who exactly was waiting for her at the base, Artemis really didn’t think she could afford such blatant tardiness. Cursing Madame Seville under her breath, the archer redoubled her efforts.

The relief she felt at reaching the out of order phonebooth that disguised the Zeta tube entrance was quickly replaced by dread. Intellectually, she knew that no matter who reamed her out, or what exactly they said, it couldn’t possibly be worse than the punishments she had received growing up, but that didn’t stop her hands from shaking as she opened the phonebooth’s door. While the bright light of the Zeta beam washed over her, Artemis gripped the straps of her backpack tight enough to stop the trembling of her hands.

When her vision cleared, Artemis could see the rest of the team assembled in the central command room, already clad in their uniforms. Batman and Black Canary were with them, gesturing to various holographic projections of what appeared to be performance stats for the team. Self consciously, Artemis brushed a few melting snowflakes off of her dance sweats, and strode towards the group.

The rest of the team caught sight of her, and before Artemis could utter an apology, a familiar sneering voice cut her off.

“It’s so nice of you to join us.” Even though his eyes were hidden by his mask, Artemis was certain that Roy was glaring at her. She bristled defensively at his tone.

“I had some school stuff that ran later than I expected.”

Roy snorted. “I bet.”

Artemis’ grip on her bag straps tightened convulsively. “Yeah. You know, some of us  _do_  go to school, and things tend to get kinda hectic at the end of the semester.”

“I’m sure you were just studying, huh?” Red Arrow’s tone, a combination of suspicion and derision, apparently raised more than Artemis’ hackles. Before she could make a snappy retort, a rather unexpected team mate stepped in.

“You know, I’m getting pretty sick of your attitude, Red Arrow.” Connor had adopted the growly tone he’d recently reserved just for enemies. “Robin only got here a few minutes ago, and you didn’t treat  _him_  this way.”

Artemis was continually impressed by how implacable a simple domino mask could make someone appear, as Roy was currently demonstrating. “Robin isn’t a suspected traitor. Who knows what she was doing?”

Briefly, Artemis wondered what Batman and Black Canary thought of this confrontation. She half-expected them to step in at any moment. Sparing the elder heroes a glance, the blonde archer saw that they both appeared slightly irritated by the interruption to their meeting, but prepared to watch their charges work things out amongst themselves. With a frustrated grunt, Artemis slung her backpack off of her shoulders.

“You want to know what I was doing? Fine.” She unzipped the main compartment of the bag and dug her hand in, quickly grasping the object she was searching for. “I was at _ballet rehearsal_.”

Artemis practically shoved her battered ballet slippers under Red Arrow’s nose. The move was apparently so unexpected that the older archer took a surprised step backwards. Roy’s bewildered expression was visible in spite of his mask. The blonde almost smirked in triumph, but that feeling died a quick death when Wally burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny, Baywatch?”

The speedster mastered himself long enough to choke out “You! Ballet!” before dissolving into laughter again. Unfortunately, this seemed to bring Roy back to himself. Determined to cut him off before he could make any more accusations, Artemis blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“Fine. You don’t believe me? Our end-of-semester performance is this Friday. Consider yourselves invited.”

Wally’s laughter died out at Artemis’ response, only to be replaced by M'Gann’s and Zatanna’s excited queries about the recital. Roy chose to back off with a scowl and a grumble, while Kaldur and Connor politely listened to the girls’ conversation. In the commotion, none of the team noticed the way Robin stiffened when Artemis all but dared her teammates to attend her recital.

Batman tolerated a few more moments of conversation before calling the teenagers back to attention.


	6. Sugarplum Variations and Coda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team shows up to Artemis’ (and Dick’s) dance recital, and they all take away different things from it.

 

**_Sugarplum Variations_ **

 

\---

 

Artemis hovered in the wings, listening to the murmurs of the audience as they slowly filled the theater. Occasionally, the curtain would sway and leave a gap for Artemis to peek through. Her mother was easy to spot; Paula’s wheelchair was placed as close to the stage as she could get it. There were others who were even more noticeable in the crowd, and the blonde wasn’t certain if she was happy or apprehensive over their arrival. Kaldur’s distinctive features set him apart from the crowd, and his three red-headed teammates only added to the group’s visibility.

Artemis felt her insides twist with unexpected anxiety. She was used to putting on performances of a different sort, but it was seldom that all eyes would be on her. The archer wouldn’t be fading into the background tonight.

“You know we’re not due to perform until after the intermission, right?”

Startled, Artemis instinctively swung at the new arrival. Her eyes widened in horror as her fist very nearly impacted her dance partner’s face. Dick’s swift step backwards barely pulled him out of range in time.

“Dick, don’t sneak up on me like that! I could have seriously hurt you!”

The boy’s smile was wide and guileless as he replied, “I wasn’t sneaking, Crock. You must have been lost in thought. Nervous?”

Artemis’ eyes slid involuntarily towards the curtains. The buzz of the audience was barely muffled by the heavy velvet. Her hands fidgeted with the edge of her wide tutu, and Artemis wished they had an arrow to toy with instead.

Dick gently pried her fingers from the layers of lace and tulle. “Stop messing with your costume. It looks fine.”

“Says you. You at least got to wear pants.” While Madame Seville had made a concession to Dick’s teenage dignity, and added breeches to his costume, Artemis had no such allowances. “This stupid outfit is only going to make me look even more ridiculous when I fall on my ass out there.”

“I know you’re worried about your chaînes, but so long as you remember to spot, you’ll be fine.” The blonde winced at being reminded of the one time in rehearsal when she had been too distracted to properly spot during a series of spins.

Other cast members began trickling in around them. Members of the beginners and intermediate dance classes took their starting positions in the wings. Some of them shot curious glances at the two principle dancers, but Artemis ignored them all. She knew that she should head back to the practice room to wait, but she wasn’t ready to leave quite yet.

“Yeah? Well what if I roll my ankle during a landing?”

Dick hadn’t let go of her hands. “If that happens, then I’ll catch you.”

-*-

Every year, Zatanna went with her father to see the New York City Ballet perform The Nutcracker. It didn’t matter what duties Zatara had with the Justice League, or whether his agent wanted the magician to take advantage of the holiday season to perform more shows. One week before Christmas, they would always go to the ballet. It was their family Christmas tradition.

When Zatanna had heard that Artemis’ ballet recital would involve The Nutcracker, she had almost decided not to come. Even now, sitting in the middle of the Gotham Academy auditorium during the intermission, she was afraid that she’d spontaneously burst into tears and ruin everyone’s evening. M'Gann and Kaldur sat to either side of her, and their mere presence helped to ward off any sorrow, though part of her wished that Robin had been able to be there instead.

Another factor that kept Zatanna from being overwhelmed by nostalgia was the unusual production that Gotham Academy had put on. They didn’t have nearly enough dance students to put on a full production of The Nutcracker, or to even use strictly ballet throughout what they did perform. Instead, they were performing some of the most famous solos and ensemble dances in a variety of styles. Zatanna’s favorites thus far had been the Marche, which had been performed by the middle school’s tap dancing class, and the Doll solos, where the dancers had used hip hop and breakdancing moves.

After years of the same Balanchine choreography, The Nutcracker seemed brand new again. They hadn’t even seen Artemis perform yet, and Zatanna was already hoping that the team would be willing to come again next year as their own holiday tradition.

-*-

Wally was hungry. He was also bored and irritated, but mostly hungry. He hated schools that didn’t allow people to eat in the auditorium.

Dick had seriously lucked out, not having to come to this. Sure, he’d probably made up the part about having an important case with Batman to deal with, but given that this was his school, and being here with them would raise secret identity questions, Wally figured he could give him a pass.

That reminded him though, what was Artemis doing at Dick’s school? Didn’t she live near Star City?

“Tch. I bet she doesn’t even go here.”

“What was that, Wally?”

Crap. He hadn’t realized he was talking out loud. And now Kaldur was giving him his I’m-not-disappointed-in-you-yet-but-you’d-better-watch-it face. No teenager should have been able to pull off that expression, but somehow Kaldur managed it.

“Dude, we’ve been here forever, I’m starting to think Artemis was making it up.”

Now Kaldur was wearing his I’m-disappointed-and-also-questioning-your-intelligence face. “Wally, I assure you that Artemis will be performing shortly. Didn’t you read the program?”

“There’s a program?”

With a beleaguered sigh, Kaldur reached past Roy to hand Wally a small, rectangular pamphlet. Written across the front in fancy lettering was “Gotham Academy Dance Department presents it’s Winter Performance – Featuring the music of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite.” It figured that even the school events programs would scream ‘money’ at this place.

Flipping the playbill open, Wally began scanning the section labelled “Second Act” for Artemis’ name. The list of dances, with names like “Trepak”, “Chocolate”, “Coffee”, and “Tea”, made little sense to him, and only served to make Wally hungrier. They were also all being performed by people who’s names he didn’t recognize, with titles like “principle dancer” or “company”.

Then, next to “Sugar Plum Fairy – variations” and “Grand Pas de Deux”, he spotted it.  _Artemis Crock, prima ballerina_. The very idea of Artemis – strong, tough, annoying, (insecure) Artemis – as a ballerina was still so absurd that he almost laughed aloud when he read that title next to her name.

Wally was about to hand the program back to Kaldur when the name next to Artemis’ caught his eye. He read it once more as the auditorium lights flickered to announce the end of the intermission.  _Richard Grayson, primo ballerino._

What the hell?

The auditorium went black.

-*-

Kaldur'ahm had seen some surface world dancing before, but that had mostly been restricted to what he’d seen on television with Connor. He’s never seen most of the more formal styles on display tonight. He could not identify many of the dances – though the couple dancing to “Chocolate” reminded him of the celebrity dancing show he’d watched with M'Gann one evening – and resolved to question his surface dwelling team mates about them after the performance.

Kaldur could sense his teammates tense in anticipation when they realized that Artemis would be taking the stage next. When the male dancer wearing a purple costume embroidered with gold exited the stage, the Atlantean had to resist the urge to lean forward in his seat. When his teammate stepped out at the back of the stage, Kaldur could hardly recognize her.

Artemis was dressed in pale lavender, with pale pink and gold accents. The odd skirt she wore fanned out from her hips like a pancake made of tulle and lace. Her long blonde hair was held in a tight bun, complemented by a glittering tiara. Most astonishing of all was the expression Artemis wore; her smile was at once serene and coy. Kaldur had never seen such a gentle look on the archer’s face.

When the music began, playing an odd, tinkling tune, Artemis’ steps were delicate, and almost hesitant. As other instruments joined in, her movements seemed to flow with them. She made small jumps in time with the beat from the orchestra, and followed it with small steps on her toe tips that made the rest of her body appear to float.

Artemis displayed grace that Kaldur never would have associated with her. Not to say that he didn’t think she was a graceful fighter; she reminded the Atlantean of the large felines found in the surface world. But when she danced like this, seeming to float and flow across the stage to this haunting music, Artemis reminded him of nothing so much as home.

Absently, Kaldur wondered what Tula and Garth would think of ballet, and if they’d see the same hints of Atlantean dances in it as he did.

-*-

When Wally had described ballet to him earlier, he’d made it sound boring, but Connor found it fascinating. He could hear the performers’ hearts beating with excitement, even when their movements were slow. He could discern the most minute differences in the dance steps between the ensemble members. Every backstage murmur or note variation from the orchestra was picked up by his superior hearing.

Ballet was far from boring. Connor was already trying to imagine ways he could get Black Canary to integrate it into his training, or how to make some of the steps into effective combat maneuvers. When Artemis and her dark haired partner circled the stage with a succession of spins before the archer leapt into the boys arms, Connor became determined to learn how she’d managed it without getting dizzy.

More than that, Connor was impressed by the way all of the dancers acted. He knew from their heartbeats and their backstage whispers that they were nervous, but the moment they walked on stage, they hid nearly every sign of it. Artemis and her partner had seemingly mastered this, disguising even their physical exertion.

When the duo returned to the stage for a sweeping, romantic number that seemed almost out of place with the rest of the music, Connor noted a difference in their performance. Earlier, they had projected serene confidence and joy in their dancing, a desire to entertain, but now their every movement spoke of devotion edged with sorrow. They always seemed to be touching one another, or at least within reach.

Everything about this was so different from the brash, sarcastic fighter that Connor knew. Artemis could completely change what type of person she seemed to be without uttering a single word. Oddly, Connor was reminded of his recent meeting with Lex Luthor; the man seemed to slip seamlessly between suave, genial businessman and calculating supervillain with little more than a twitch of his eyebrows and a roll of his shoulders.  _Face it son…_

Connor decided that before he started turning dance steps into combat moves, he’d get Artemis to show him how to wordlessly change who he was. That way, he’d never have to be Lex Luthor’s son.

-*-

Dick didn’t think he’d ever get over the high of performing. There was something about being under the stage lights, and giving your all to the audience that exhilarated him. The crowd for Gotham Academy’s ballet recital was tiny compared to what he had seen with Haly’s Circus, but it was no less thrilling. That the audience was filled with his friends only heightened the excitement.

Okay, so most of his closest friends wouldn’t even realize who he was, but that was fine. He was certain that after two – spectacular, in his opinion – performances, and the lift he’d talked Artemis into during the final curtain call, he’d made an impression. Yes, he knew that he probably shouldn’t have shown off like that in his civilian identity, but he couldn’t help himself. Besides, Artemis still hadn’t figured him out, and he’d been showing off in class all semester (it was a little disappointing, actually. Though there were times when she’d look at him suspiciously, so maybe she was just in denial).

Performing was great, it was  _fun_. But there was one part of it that he didn’t like: post-show pictures. Part of him suspected it had something to do with the number of photos taken of him right after his parents’ deaths, but he tried not to examine that too much. Normally he’d dodge into the changing room as quick as possible, but Artemis was giving him this pleading look (which was _so weird_ ) and he knew that he was going to cave in before she even spoke.

“Please, Dick? Just a couple of pictures for my mom. It’ll make her night.”

Dick fiddled with one of the golden buttons on his costume jacket. If he said no, Artemis would be mad at him. If he said yes, then he’d have to spend time on pictures that could be used escaping the auditorium before Wally cornered him and risked revealing his secret identity. But if he said no, Artemis’ mom would be sad, and then Artemis would be  _really_ angry with him.

“Okay, fine. Let’s take them by the Christmas tree in the lobby; they don’t have those godawful florescent lights there.”  _And it’s out of the way, so the team won’t find us as fast._

The archer grinned and nodded, before gesturing to her mother (who had been talking with Commissioner Gordon, of all people). Then, as if she didn’t trust him not to try to escape, Artemis grabbed his arm and began pulling him towards the stage door.

“You know, I can’t believe you’re letting your mother take photographic evidence of you in that costume.”

“Hey, I came to this school because she asked, I think I can handle a little more embarrassment. Besides, I’m not the one who looks like a member of Sgt. Pepper’s.”

Dick unsuccessfully hid a wince at the dig. In order to match Artemis, Madame Seville had made him wear a dark purple coat that looked like it came from some sort of Napoleonic army. If any Napoleonic army wore purple, that is. “Whatever, at least  _I_ got to wear pants, Miss Classical Tutu.”

“I think the epaulets cancel out any dignity that the pants might have preserved.”

“Are you really going to pick on me when I’m being so generous and letting your mom take my picture in this monstrosity? I should have dropped you during the pas de deux.”

“Please, you would never do anything that made you look incompetent.” Artemis was giving him that shrewd look again, which always made him a bit nervous. Thankfully, they reached her mother before the blonde could come to some sort of revelation.

Paula Crock seemed completely harmless, seated in her wheelchair next to the Christmas tree, camera in her lap and a proud smile on her face. “Artemis, you did wonderfully. You too, Dick. The both of you looked so lovely together on stage.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Crock.” Dick maneuvered himself closer to the twinkling Christmas tree while Artemis leaned down to give her mother a kiss. “Do you want us to pose for you, Mrs. Crock?”

“Maybe just a little bit. Why don’t you two just give me a big smile first?”

“Sure thing.” The acrobat grinned widely before pulling Artemis close and throwing an arm around her. The blonde grumbled a little, but smiled and pressed her cheek against his even as she rolled her eyes. Paula laughed at their antics before snapping a few photos.

After a moment, Artemis pulled back and moved into fifth position. Taking his cue, Dick stepped into fourth position and placed one hand behind her back. Out of the corner of his eye, Dick noticed Paula frowning briefly at her camera.

“Dick, how do you manage to look even shorter on camera?”

Artemis burst into startled laughter while Dick grumbled. Casting a disgruntled glance at his friend’s mother, the young acrobat had an idea. Without pausing, Dick dropped to one knee and held out a hand to his partner.

“You know, Grayson, I’m not sure if this is the right place for that. It’s gonna be real awkward when I turn you down in front of my mother.”

“Just shut up and pose.”

Artemis smoothly rose up on pointe, before lifting one leg and dropping into a graceful arabesque. When she rested one hand on his own outstretched one, Dick carefully matched the pressure she placed on it. He knew that it took a lot of effort for a person to maintain this position for an extended length of time, and carefully monitored the way Artemis’ arm strained as she worked to maintain her balance.

“This picture will really suck if you don’t actually look at me, Grayson.” The comment forced Dick into eye contact with Artemis just as he heard the click of her mother’s camera.

“Artemis! There you are!”

M'Gann’s sudden exclamation startled both dancers, and caused Artemis to lose her precarious balance. Long ingrained reflexes kicked in, and in a heartbeat, the young hero was on his feet with his arms reaching out to steady his partner. Dick grinned brightly, “Didn’t I say that I’d catch you?”

“Yeah, you’re a regular Prince Charming. You’ve got the outfit to prove it.”

“Says the girl wearing a tiara. It looks like your friends are here, so I’m gonna head back to the changing room. I’ll see you later.”

The blonde archer nodded distractedly before heading over to their teammates, while Dick pointedly ignored Wally’s questioning look as he melted into the crowd. He made quick time to the deserted dressing room and pulled out the under layer of his suit. Alfred would have the rest of his uniform waiting in the car. Robin rushed to change, worried that either Artemis or Wally would come looking for him at any moment. He wasn’t sure which would be worse.

Dick did know that Robin needed to be seen patrolling around Gotham tonight, or Artemis would throttle him for skipping out on her recital for 'no good reason’.

-*-

As Christmas drew closer, M'Gann grew more and more excited about it. They didn’t celebrate the holiday on Mars, but now that she was on Earth, she could experience it first hand. Tonight she’d even gone to see The Nutcracker, like normal Earthlings did at Christmas! True, she didn’t always understand what was going on in the ballet, but that was alright. Just seeing the spectacle, and basking in the Earth-ness of it all, was enough.

Unfortunately, she had yet to find the person who had made this possible in order to thank them. Artemis had disappeared after the curtain call, and M'Gann was having a difficult time pinpointing her brain signature amidst the unfamiliar crowd. After wandering through the post-show reception for a few minutes (and pulling Wally away from the refreshments table), she finally found her wayward teammate posing with her dance partner in front of a Christmas tree. (Maybe Red Tornado would let them set up a Christmas tree in the cave! They should probably set up a menorah too, she didn’t want any of her Jewish teammates to feel left out. Was anyone on the team Jewish? They’d never really talked about that…)

“Artemis! There you are!”

The Martian’s heart stuttered for a moment as she watched her blonde teammate stumble at her call. It just as quickly returned to a giddy pace when the dark-haired boy caught her. No wonder Artemis hadn’t shown all that much interest in Wally, not when she was spending so much time at school with a boy who would rush to her rescue like that! (Not that M'Gann believed that Artemis was the type of girl to need or want rescuing; it was more the fact that he  _wanted_  to rescue her that tickled M'Gann’s fancy). The two spoke briefly (they were smiling at each other! Or, at least  _he_  was smiling at Artemis) before the dark-haired boy wandered off into the crowd.

M'Gann could barely restrain herself from floating over to her friend. “Artemis, that was wonderful! I’ve never been to a ballet before.”

“Well, technically, you still haven’t been to a ballet. I’m pretty sure the tap dancers eliminated us from that category.”

M'Gann smiled at the self-depreciation. “Well, I still liked it. Those extra rehearsals this week must have paid off.” A sly note crept into her voice, “Don’t you agree, Wally?”

The speedster barely managed to avoid choking on the brownie he’d been inhaling. While he recovered, the rest of the team arrived. Clearing his throat, the boy managed to mumble some response about the archer being “okay”.

Satisfied that Wally was off balance, M'Gann decided to go for the kill. “Do you think you could come over tonight, Artemis? Zatanna and I were thinking of watching Christmas movies and drinking hot cocoa.” They’d made no such plans, but she could see the magician’s eyes light up at the suggestion. “And we could talk about that cute boy you were dancing with – I think he likes you!”

M'Gann smiled sweetly as she surveyed her handiwork. Zatanna looked thrilled by the prospect of a girl’s night in, while Artemis had the slightest blush on her cheeks. M'Gann didn’t even need to employ her powers to read the panic in Wally’s mind.

“Uh, I don’t know, M'Gann. I’ve got to get my mom home.” The blonde archer gestured to a slim, dark-haired woman seated near them. The Martian had been so focussed on her friend, that she’d barely registered her presence earlier.

“Don’t be silly, Artemis. I can get my self home. Go spend some time with your friends.”

“But mom, it’s not safe!”

“Just because I can’t walk, doesn’t mean I can’t defend myself. Stop worrying. It would make me happy to see you do something  _normal_  with your friends for a change.” That caught M'Gann’s attention; she’d never really considered that her friends weren’t really normal Earthlings either, and that the things she suggested were just as novel to them as they were to her.

“What if there’s ice?”

Artemis’ mother was unmoved. “If you’re so concerned, I can ask Commissioner Gordon for a lift home. He offered as much to me earlier. Now, go change out of that costume and have some fun with your friends. Preferably the type that  _doesn’t_  involve crime fighting.”

Artemis turned back to her team. “Alright, I’ll come over, so long as we watch The Muppet Christmas Carol.”

M'Gann contented herself with a brief hug of gratitude, rather than spinning the other girl around midair. She was about to start babbling about her spur of the moment plans, when Kaldur interrupted.

“Before we go any further, Roy has something he’d like to say.”

The red haired archer couldn’t be said to be sulking; that was far too undignified an act for him to indulge in. Brooding seemed to be more of his thing. “I’m sorry for the way I treated you earlier this week. School takes priority over non-essential team meetings, and I shouldn’t have made insinuations when you were simply prioritizing your time as you were told to.”

Kaldur didn’t seem entirely satisfied with his friend’s speech, but he chose not to push the issue when Artemis nodded her acceptance. “I think that we were all very impressed with your performance this evening, Artemis. I look forward to seeing you dance in the future.”

“Thanks, Kaldur. If you guys will excuse me for a minute, I’ve got to get changed.”

-*-

**_Coda_ **

-*-

It was snowing when Dick made his way to Alfred’s waiting car. He was grateful that his long winter coat also had deep pockets, since his insulated gauntlets were waiting with the rest of his uniform. A run-in with Babs meant that Dick was once more at risk of being caught by his teammates. It was a relief to finally duck inside the limo.

That was, until he spotted the bouquet on the seat. “I’m flattered, Alfred, but roses aren’t really my style.”

“That is a relief, Master Richard, as they are not for you. I would have hated to get your hopes up in such a manner.”

Dick had an idea of who the three dozen roses were for. “She must be someone special, since Bruce usually sticks to  _red_  roses.”

“I believe that it’s tradition to present the prima ballerina with flowers after a performance. Master Bruce said to be certain that you gave them to her.”

The Boy Wonder idly counted how many different colors were in the bouquet. He was pretty sure that some of these shades weren’t found in nature. “Does the primo ballerino get anything?”

Alfred held up a flash drive. “Master Bruce had to step out early, but he saw both of your appearances. We were both quite impressed with the two of you, but he felt that this would be of more interest to you than flowers.”

When Robin leaned forward to grab the USB drive, the butler snatched his hand back. “I believe your partner is exiting the building now. It would be a shame if she didn’t get her bouquet.”

Understanding the implied threat, Dick trudged back out into the falling snow, roses in hand. “Hey, Crock!”

Artemis’ head turned toward him at the sound of his voice. After a quick gesture for the team to wait a moment, she jogged over to meet him by one of the yard lampposts. As she came close, Dick could see that she hadn’t bothered to wipe away her stage makeup, or take down her bun. Part of him wondered what the others were dragging her off to do (and another part cursed that he couldn’t go with them).

“Grayson, I thought you’d left.”

Dick poured all the charm he could into his smile. “I couldn’t go without giving these to you first.”

The archer’s eyes went wide as she registered the flowers in his outstretched hand. “That is a lot of roses.”

“It was Bruce’s idea. Or Alfred’s. I’m not sure which.” Watching his teammate gingerly accept the enormous bouquet, Dick got an idea. Impulsively, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “That one was my idea.”

Catching the surprised looks from his other teammates over Artemis’ shoulder, Robin let out a laugh. He knew that he’d catch hell from Wally for that later (not that Wally would ever admit to why he was upset), but it had been totally worth it. Retreating before Artemis decided to retaliate in some manner, he called over his shoulder “Happy holidays, Crock!”

Her answering “See you next semester!” reached him just as he closed the limo door. Once safely ensconced, Dick snatched up his new flash drive, and swiftly changed into his uniform. Pulling up the files Batman had given him on his wrist computer, Robin’s attention was immediately caught. Even before he started formulating a plan to deal with the problems at Haly’s Circus, he knew the first person he wanted on his squad.

 


	7. Notes and Trivia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Consider this the liner notes from my tumblr

The titles for the various sections are all either ballet terms or the names of famous ballets/ballet related stories.  For example, according to Wikipedia, a Gand Pas d'action is:

> A Grand pas is a suite of individual dances that serves as a showpiece for lead dancers, demi-soloists, and possibly the corps de ballet. In the context of a full-length ballet the Grand pas is considered a Pièce de résistance. The Grand pas is merely a display of dance, and in no way contributes to the ballet’s story.
> 
> If the Grand pas does contribute to the ballet’s story, then it is known as a Grand Pas d'action… Grand pas de deux – a Grand pas which serves as the Pièce de résistance for the principal male and female characters of a full-length ballet.

Here’s explanation for the rest of the titles:

  * Entrée refers to either the opening number of a Grand pas, or a number where the lead characters make their first appearance on stage.
  * Pas de deux is the technical term for when two dancers dance together, typically a male dancer and a female dancer. “In general, partnering is an effort by both the male and female dancers to achieve a harmony of movement so that the audience is unaware of the mechanics to enjoy the emotional effects.”[x](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FGlossary_of_ballet%23P&t=YmEyNjNjMmUwMGIwYWVlNzQzNjMzZDEwNWU2NmVmZTIyZTJlMWQzZixBa1JaU3hKSA%3D%3D&b=t%3AzZGlqOTsYuihv_15l3_XGw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwrench-wench.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F24159729444%2Fgrand-pas-daction-trivia&m=1)
  * The Red Shoes is actually a movie about ballet. In it, the characters perform in a ballet based on a Hans Christian Andersen story, where a girl has cursed shoes that force her to dance. The protagonist’s relationship with ballet causes her similar tragedy to the girl in the fairytale.
  * The Firebird is a famous ballet based on a Russian folk tale. In it, a prince spares a firebird that he caught. In return, the firebird helps the prince defeat an evil sorcerer and rescue several princesses.
  * Scheherazade is a play obviously based on One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, where the titular character tells unfinished stories in order to stay off her execution.
  * Variations is a ballet term that refers to a solo; the famous Sugarplum Fairy song from The Nutcracker is one of these. I thought it would be a fitting name, since almost the entire team gets a little solo in this part (I left out Roy since his section would basically be “grumble mole grumble suspicious” at this point in canon).
  * A coda is like a musical P.S.



 


End file.
